Thursday, January 21, 2010

Largo to consider FHWA digital billboard safety study

City staff and some council members in Largo, Florida wisely are seeking to ensure that the upcoming results of the Federal Highway Administration study on the safety of digital billboards are taken into consideration before the city acts on any decision to allow the new technology.

Largo is among the thousands of communities in the country that do not allow new billboards.

The FHWA study is scheduled for release in April and will provide the most comprehensive research to date on the extent of motorist distraction caused by digital billboards. It will complement an exhaustive research review conducted by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program for state transportation officials released last year that raises serious concerns about digital billboards and concluded that public officials have a growing and sound body of evidence that digital billboards pose a safety issue. A pdf of the report can be downloaded here.

More information on the safety issue and other problems of digital billboards can be found at this Scenic America resource page.

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